For You I Would
by Butterfly Hippie
Summary: Tara, Brianna, Kerry and Mary are four best friends traveling on the Titanic for a vacation. They all have cerebral palsy, which affects the muscles. What will happen to them when the ship sinks?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Now, Tara, you be careful." Tara's mother warned her as she pressed her daughter tightly against her.

"Mom, I'll be _fine_." Tara broke away from her mother's embrace and scanned the crowd. They had to be here somewhere...

Over the chatter of the huge crowd of people here to see the _Titanic_ off, Tara heard a distant sound. The sound of crutches tapping. A minute later, Tara's best friend Mary came up behind her, balancing on her purple forearm crutches.

"Hey, Tara, have you seen Kerry anywhere?" Tara shook her head.

"Nope. But she's got to be here somewhere. She was so excited last night that she could barely talk." Just then, Tara felt something jab into the back of her ankle.

"Ow! Careful with the footplates, Kerry, that's my only right ankle! And it doesn't work too well, either." Tara's other friend, Kerry, smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Tara." She maneuvered her manal wheelchair cautiously backwards so that the footplate wasn't digging into Tara's ankle. Then she turned to Mary.

"Looking for me?" Mary nodded, smiling.

"I was, but now that you're here, I'm not." Laughter escalated the excitement between the three best friends. They were going on a vacation to America, together, to celebrate Tara's fourteenth birthday. There was only one person missing...

Lost in thought, Tara jumped a mile when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She whirled around to see her third friend, Cate, laughing.

"_Cate_!" Tara complained. "Don't _do_ that!" Cate smiled playfully.

"Calm down, Tara! Oh, hi, Mrs. Kelly." she added, spotting Tara's mother. Mrs. Kelly smiled apprehensively.

"Oh, hello Cate." she said, rather nervously.

"Mom. Calm down." Tara reassured her mother. "We're going on a _vacation_, to have _fun_. You've got nothing to worry about. We'll be _fine_." Before Mrs. Kelly could say another word, a man in a White Star Line uniform appeared at her elbow.

"Ma'am, if it's all right with you, we'd like to take the young ladies on board now."

"But why?" Tara questioned. "We're not first class." Was it her imagination, or did the man look uncomfortable? He looked at Tara and her friends for a split second before turning back to Mrs. Kelly.

"We'd like to take them on board before everyone else starts jostling each other to get on. It would not be good for their, uh," Okay, now he _definitely_ looked uncomfortable. "their, uh, _unique_ needs." Mrs. Kelly nodded silently, obviously not noticing the man's difficulty. The man started leading the four friends away, guiding them like they were toddlers, while Mrs. Kelly shouted last-minute instructions to the girls through the thicket of people.

"Girls, be careful! The ship doctor knows you have CP, right? No roughhousing! I don't want you to fall!" Tara twisted away from the man's grasp and glared at him as he led them to the tender ship that would bring them to the great Titanic. Or _tried_ to glare at him. Because of cerebral palsy, Tara had not much control over the muscles of her body. This made things like glaring very difficult.

Mary, and Kerry also had CP, each at a slightly different degree than Tara. Kerry's was the most severe out of all of them. She couldn't walk unaided. Mary's was slightly milder than Kerry's. She could walk a limited distance without her crutches.

Cate was the only one out of the four of them who did not have CP. She had gotten very sick when she was a little girl, and so was pretty much paralyzed on one side of her body.

"God, we're not _toddlers_." Tara whispered to Kerry as they were guided along. "What does he think, that we're mentally retarded or something?" Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth. All four girls were very bright, and all of them wrote amazing stories and poetry. As the man led them along, Mary looked back nervously. Mrs. Kelly had now been swallowed up by the crowd.

"Maybe we should listen to your mother, Tara. Maybe we should be a bit more careful. There's no telling what could happen." Tara hugged her friend tightly.

"Aw, Mary, it's OK. We'll be careful. Besides, it's not like the ship is going to sink or something." Famous last words.

A/N: Wow, I'm writing a new story! This is dedicated to my best friend Nicole (NoDoubtFan) who told me that I should write a Titanic story. So, I am! I have no clue where this story is going, so it might be awhile before I update again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Tara surveyed the deck in front of her. It was hustling and bustling, with people of all different ages and nationalities hurrying on past, or just sitting and looking at the cool blue water. Her feet ached and she longed to sit down. But there were no benches up here on deck, and she couldn't go to her cabin. It was all the way down in steerage, third class quarters. The White Star Line officials had told the girls that they would be happy to accommodate their "unusual needs" as they put it, once they had accommodated all the other steerage passengers. Although Tara and Cate could both manage stairs pretty well, they had opted to stay with Mary and Kerry until the officials could carry the two girls down the stairs to the steerage quarters. Tara leaned over the railing a little so she could see the ripples in the calm water.

"Better take a good look. It's probably the last time you'll be up here." said a voice from behind her. Tara jumped at the unexpected sound. She spun around to face the unknown speaker, who she found to be startlingly good-looking.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I scare you?" asked the boy. He was incredibly handsome, with dark hair and even darker eyes. His jaw was firm and square, and his olive skin was completely clear, with no trace of the usual blemishes and pimples of adolescence.

"It's no big deal." Tara stammered, acutely aware of the zits scattering across her own face. "I have a startle reflex...it comes with having a disability like mine, I guess. I have cerebral palsy, you know. It's a disability that affects my muscles and stuff. So part of that disability is a startle reflex. I jump at every little thing. So it's no big deal." As soon as she finished talking, Tara felt a blush creep up her cheeks. _Oh, god, I was babbling. He probably thinks I'm mentally retarded. Well, that makes two people who I've given that impression to today. I'm on a roll_.

"It's ok." the boy said. He smiled, and Tara nearly fainted. He had an adorable dimple at the corner of his mouth when he smiled. Then she realized he was talking again.

"Anyway, third class passengers aren't usually allowed up on deck. They have their own dining room and stuff down in steerage. So that's why I said this is probably the last time you'll be up here. So, are you Tara Kelly?"

_Is that my name? _Tara wondered for a minute before snapping back to reality. _God, just because an extremely cute boy looks at me, I completely lose my head. I disgust myself._

"Uh...yeah." she stammered again. "Yeah, that's my name." The cute boy looked at her strangely, but went on.

"My brother wants me to tell you that he's ready to bring you and your friends down to steerage now."

"Your...brother?" Tara said faintly. She was having a bit of trouble processing information with the cutest boy in the world standing right next to her, talking to her.

"Yeah. My brother Ricky. He's a White Star Line official." the boy explained.

"Oh." Tara searched around for something more intelligent to say. "Okay." she added. "Tell him that me and my friends will meet him at the stairs in ten minutes."

"Sure." he replied. He hesitated for a minute before asking his question.

"Um...I know we just met and everything, but would you like to hang out tonight?" Tara nearly fell over. _Oh my god, he's asking me out! Well, say something! Don't just stand there like an idiot!_

"Uh...sure, I'd love to." she said. A thought struck her then. "But what about my friends? I don't want to leave them out." The boy smiled that adorable smile again.

"I have it all figured out. I have three other friends. We can quadruple-date."

"Cool!" Tara exclaimed. As the boy turned to leave, she caught him by the arm.

"Wait. You know my name. What's yours?"

"Oh." he said. "My name is Anthony. Anthony Marzocchi. Oh, and how old are you? Just out of curiosity."

"I'm..." Tara started. _What's my name, what's my name!_ "13. Well, 14. Today's my birthday."

"I'm 16." Anthony replied. "Happy birthday, Tara. My friends and I will meet you in steerage, you're not allowed up in the first class where we are. See you tonight." Then he turned and walked across the deck. Tara stared after him for a moment, then raced to tell her friends that the cutest guy alive had just asked her out.

A/N: Thank you, goldenirishbelle, for lifting my writer's block! As always, review! Oh by the way, I made a few changes to Ch. 1 that you might want to check out. Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"So, let me get this straight." Kerry said later, as Ricky carried her down the steep steps to steerage. "This amazingly cute boy shows up and within ten minutes of meeting you, asks you out?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Tara responded, following Kerry and Ricky down the steps, clinging to the wall as she went. They reached the bottom of the steps and turned right to get to their cabin, 3B. Ricky gently put Kerry down on the bunk bed next to Mary, who had already been brought down by another White Star Line officer. Kerry's wheelchair stood next to the bed, currently empty of its usual occupant.

"I don't know about this." Mary said seriously. She had basically been following the conversation. "I mean, it could be dangerous. I don't like the idea of him asking you out not ten minutes after he met you."

"I know." Tara said guiltily. She knew Mary was right. "But, god, he's so _cute_!" Mary sighed. _She_ at least, had some clue about what might happen.

At dinner, Tara couldn't eat.

"I just can't eat. I'm too excited. Oh, this is going to be the best night of my life!" Tara squealed.

"_Tara_..." Mary said warningly.

"Yeah, I know, I have to calm down." Tara said breathlessly. "Otherwise he'll regard me as a stupid little kid and I'll lose the love of my life! I can't eat, I can't concentrate. I think I'm going to go back to our cabin and change into more suitable...date clothes." she told them, looking disapprovingly at the huge spaghetti sauce stain on her pale blue shirt. Her napkin fell to the floor unnoticed, as Tara dashed out the door and back to the cabin.

"That girl has no common sense." Mary commented as Tara left.

"Nah, she _has_ common sense-" Kerry corrected. "She's just lost it all to a boy named Anthony Marzocchi."

Back in the cabin, Tara had dug her suitcase out from under the bed and was now examining its contents. Right on top was an old photo album (A/N: Did they have photos in 1912? I think they did, just not color photos...). Tara lifted it out of the suitcase and turned to the first page. The first page was a handwritten sign.

"Cate, Mary, Kerry, and Tara. Together forever." she read softly. She turned the page to see a photo of the four of them, arms around each other. It was taken just a year before their journey on the _Titanic_. The next page was a photo of Tara singing her heart out, her three friends singing backup behind her. The four of them all loved to sing, and were actually fairly well known for their singing back in Ireland.

Tara glanced at the clock above the tiny dresser. It was almost seven. Time for her to get changed. Tara dug through several more layers of shirts, socks, and other things before her hand touched something silky. She pulled it out and grinned. It was her favorite dress, pale pink silk. She changed into it and sat on the bed, just dreaming about the wonderful night she was bound to have.

The sound of crutches tapping brought Tara out of her thoughts once again. A moment later, Mary appeared, followed closely by Cate and Kerry.

"Well, where are Dream Boy and his Dream Friends?" Cate asked teasingly. Tara shrugged, a smile lighting up her face.

"I don't know. They should be here any minute."

Time passed, and Tara grew more and more fidgety. At 7:15, Tara started pacing the floor. At 7:30, she started playing with the silk of her dress. Finally at a quarter to eight, Tara went to the stairs so she could see if they were coming. And then she saw them.

Anthony was there, along with his promised three friends who were as equally cute as he was. One friend had blond hair and baby blue eyes. Another had curly brown hair and hazel eyes. And the last one had dark hair like Anthony's, but green eyes. Each of the remaining three girls silently picked out which boy she wanted in her mind.

"Where have you _been_?" Tara demanded of Anthony. "We've been waiting for forty-five minutes!" Anthony didn't answer, but looked distinctly uncomfortable. Tara decided to let it go.

"Well, are you ready for our date?" she asked, the sparkle back in her eyes. Anthony shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. His cronies snickered. Tara got a horrible feeling in her stomach.

"What? What are you laughing about?" she said quickly. The snickers now turned into full fledged laughter.

"What? What is it? _Why are you laughing_!" Tara screamed in frustration. But in her mind she already knew. She just didn't want to believe it. Finally the green-eyed boy stopped laughing long enough to say,

"You actually thought we would take you on a _date_? God, I wouldn't date any of you cripples if you _paid _me!" The sparkle disappeared from Tara's eyes once again.

"Yeah," the blond haired boy added. "You girls are such freaks. Not only are you poor, but you're not even _normal_."

"No _wonder _you girls are all the way down here in steerage." said the curly-haired boy. "It's so nobody will have to look at your ugly, twisted faces!" Anthony's three friends turned around and headed up the stairs. Tara could hear their cruel laughter long after they had gone out of sight. Anthony gave Tara a helpless stare, and then followed his friends.

There was silence in the cabin for a minute, as the four best friends looked at each other in shock.

"Did you...was that...what I _think_ it was?" Tara finally said, her voice trembling as she fought back tears. Mary gave a long, slow nod.

"Yeah, Tara." she said. "It was." The wall of tears pushed forward, and soon Tara was sobbing too hard to speak. And soon, three other girls' sobs joined hers. The teardrops landed on the fragile pink silk dress as Tara thought _This sucks. This sucks so bad._

A/N: OK I'm done! Didn't expect that, did you? As always, review!


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